Star Wars Galaxies: Fugitive
by Rhysati Ynr
Summary: Visions of the past and other events haunt the Jedi in their dreams. Whether they are truth or fiction, it is hard to tell. But they need to find out soon, before the darkness hunts them down.
1. Chapter 1: Mirgaanla

Chapter 1: Mirgaanla

_The delicate, crystalline spires caught the faltering light of the starship's underside lamps, providing a narrow pathway to progress through the maze of towering spines. Their tiny signals, each appearing to glow faintly with their own, unique light signatures, lit up the frosty night sky like runway guiding its passengers to safe ground. The ship continued to plunge deeper through the swirling mists, its mass of metal creaking as the chilled air played havoc with its mechanisms. Their destination was getting ever closer as well as the ever pressing danger of being spied by Imperial soldiers that may have inhabited the diamond infused Ilum._

_Ever since the fall of the Jedi Order to Order 66 almost two decades previous, the world had been lost in whispers and heresay, unknown to many. Ilum was the natural home of adegan crystals, the heart of a lightsaber, and had become a place of solidarity and serenity for any Force sensitive still lurking in the galaxy that was aware of its difficult location. Although these folk were rare, there were some who still ventured out into space in search of treasures lost, instead of settling down, though their presences were always masked._

_The occupants of this particular ship, on this particular expedition, were some of those few; daring to make a venture into the unknown. There was something urgently needed here that could not be found elsewhere, according to the expeditions' self-elected leader. This was a chance for new discoveries, though the youngest of the team was not entirely sure what that could entail._

_Seated in the piloting chair of the _Crimson Breeze_, Jedi Knight Mirdala Kendari amused herself by exhaling and admiring the patterns her breath formed in the cold cockpit air. To her side sat a bottle-green R5 astromech droid that was jacked into dataterminal nearby. With her definite lack of piloting skills, she has entrusted the actual flying of the ship to the talents of her robotic counterpart. Her job, that she had assigned to herself, had been to monitor the ship's surveillance systems and com-link for any chatter that would signal if they had been spotted. _

_Although this was not entirely her mission, her father had instructed that she should take the lead with the landing process. So, she had attempted to think as her father might. Keeping the heating systems down inside the cockpit would eliminate any excess heat signatures that might be picked up by enemy sensors. She could not do anything about the engines, but at the speed they seemed to be constantly accelerating to, she hoped that they might pass for a rapidly cooling meteorite that was crashlanding into the frozen landscape. If they did not, then she was going to have a lot of explaining to do..._

_The astromech, named Artoo-TeeDee, let out a warbled warning. Mirdala turned her gaze away from the patterns of condensation in the air and narrowed her eyes through the forward viewport. An outcropping lay ahead on the horizon, glowing a faint shade of amber. She guessed that this was their impromptu landing platform. _

Maybe it's warmer out there than it is in here_, she thought, with wry amusement. _

_"Trim the speed off, Tee-Dee. Although, we may finally get warm if we crash landed to a burning death on this freezing planet."_

_She received a sharp blat in reply, curtly reminding her that the small droid was more than capable of flying the ship without her input or instruction. With a roll of her eyes, she twisted in her chair to address the person seated behind her,_

_"Buir, we -"_

_She bit down on her tongue sharply. The gruff looking man, for once in his lifetime, looked content and at peace. His buy'ce sat in the crook of his arm, as dirtied, darkened and damaged as the rest of his shadowed armour. Its scarlet, T shaped visor looked like it could use a bit of tender, loving, care as much as the scuffed armour plates. His matted, shoulder length, graying, black hair looked like it had seen better days. His appearance suggested like the man had just stepped fresh out of battle only moments ago. But, his closed eyes and relaxed, weathered face suggested otherwise._

_To some, it may have seemed like he was sleeping. Mirdala knew better, however. He was meditating, deep in the Force and in tune with the ship around them. He would be watching her every move and overseeing every alteration she or the astromech made to their course. He would nurse every strain that the _Breeze_ succumbed to with a small whisper of the Force. This was their family skill - communicating with technology as though it was a living organism._

_She turned sharply around in her chair once more and set to work on preparing the landing gear for when they arrived, as if in response to an unanswered command from the man. _

_The world reeled around her, thoughts and memories swirling in front of her eyes. She saw so many faces, some known and others not so as they danced before her. A pained gasp escaped her lips as she was pitched back into the dark..._

_Snowflakes lashed harshly at two figures as they ascended the cliff face. Ice gave out under foot and sent the pair skidding down ledges. Only a small Force leap was able to re-correct their progress as they continued to climb upwards. Fortunately, their cave entrance was looming closer in sight, barely visible through the blizzard of snow whipping around them._

_Mirdala was the first to reach the top of the cliff face, her gloved fingers clawing deftly at the ledge as she heaved her body weight up onto the more stable surface. She was suddenly reminded of cliff climbing on Dathomir with someone dear to her, and felt herself grinning at the landscape around her. It was truly breathtaking up this high in the mountains, and it was a dire shame that they could not share the experience together. _

_Barely had she caught her breath back before the blackened form of her father appeared in her peripheral vision and made a confident approach into the cave entrance. She paused for a long moment, then with a groan of extra effort she pulled herself up onto her feet and dutifully followed after him. _

_The caves were more beautiful than the staggeringly stunning view outside. The walls were pitched deep in shadow without a trace of reflection on the floor, the ebony pigmentation of the rock was a dark, starless starscape the deeper they journeyed into the caverns. Mirdala produced one of the lightsabers dangling off of her utility belt and ignited the blade in a burst of amber brilliance. The rocks absorbed the light as she passed the blade across the walls like a small black hole. She leaned in closer in fascination, tracing her fingertip along lines etched into the stone. She remembered reading archive information prior to the trip to Ilum, learning that Jedi had often etched their stories into the walls. Her fingers dusted a faint trace of snow off of the patterns as she swept her lightsaber blade ever closer, trying to make out a meaning behind the carvings._

_Her father brushed past her shoulder and used a gentle Force nudge to focus her vision on the path ahead. With a mutter of annoyance under her breath, she pressed on. _

_The caves became even tighter and twisting as they continued to walk. Her lightsaber's glow became swallowed by the gloom, enough to tempt her to ignite her second weapon to provide more illumination. The lack of lighting had not phased her father in the slightest, as he carried on to their destination. Her feet fumbled on the slippery rock floor as she tried to match his pace and she had to resort to drawing upon the Force to right her uneven balance._

_Eventually, her father came to a sudden halt as their path split in two directions. He gestured with one hand, indicating Mirdala to head to the right. She stepped up to his side, looking confused as she produced her datapad from where it dangled off of her utility belt. After consulting it for a moment, she looked at him._

_"We need to head left," she explained as she tried to slip past him and go in the opposite direction to his instruction. "Master Meji said he would meet us in the lightsaber construction chamber."_

_Another arm outstretched before her at blinding speed, preventing her from moving. She took a step backwards and tilted her head to look up into his scarlet visor, scanning the helmet for eyes behind the metal, as if trying to see his intentions. _

_"You meditate in there." Once more, her father pointed past her shoulder to the narrow gap in the ebony rock wall. "I'll come and find you when we're done."_

_"Meditating?" Mirdala's dark blue eyes narrowed as her hands propped themselves on her hips. "I thought this was an exploration mission!"_

_"It is." Jedi Master Laothin Kendari regarded his daughter sternly and any attempt she made to slip past his arm proved to be futile. "You've lost direction lately, Mird'ika. You're going to stay here and find yourself again, before I get back."_

_"What do you mean?" The young Jedi Knight remained rooted in place as her father stepped away and disappeared around a corner in the direction she believed they had both been going. "Is this about the Rebellion? It's not like -"_

_Her words were only answered by the sound of the wind whipping around further back outside the cave. She huffed in exasperation. She had joined the Rebellion because she believed that it would fulfill her duties as a Jedi Knight, to protect those who could not protect themselves. But apparently in doing this, she had lost her direction as a Jedi, according to her father, and was fighting someone else's war. She could not win with whatever path that she decided to take._

_Mirdala slipped into the narrow gap, reflexively inhaling as she tried to pass through. It was a tight squeeze, but she was thankful to see the walls expanded to accommodate for more of a form to pass along the path. Her heavy boots did not provide enough grip as she shuffled towards another opening growing ever larger in the distance and once more had to dip into the Force to ground herself. Eventually, her hand groped the edge of the ice wall pressed against her back and tugged her body free into the cavern ahead._

_The cavern looked the same as the passageway outside. The dark rocks ate away at the glow of her datapad as she cautiously crept up a small bridge carved into the ice. The footbridge led to a dais suspended on pillars of stone, supporting it precariously from the bottomless darkness that extended itself far below her feet. The ice slicked rock of the platform did not look inviting, but large enough for three or four beings to sit in a circle and meditate collaboratively. She lowered herself down, wriggling her buttocks as a sharp pang of cold shivered up her back._

Voices punctuated her hearing, rumbling around in her head like a sonic wave had dropped down next to her. Fingers dug into her hair as clashing sounds of blades on bone rang out and swiftly dumped her back into gloom...

_Limbs - legs, arms and even heads - tumbled past Mirdala into the cavernous drop beneath her. Her lightsabers screamed in protest along with her arm muscles as they whipped arcs around her. The Gorgodons had attacked even as she had been deeply immersed in the Force. Perhaps the harmony of the Force and Force infused crystals around her had relaxed her spirit so much that she had lost awareness of everything in close proximity. Now, she was heavily paying the price. It had only been her last minute danger sense that had caused her eyes to snap open and lightsaber to spring into hand, blocking a gargantuan, clawed hand that came hurtling towards her at terminal velocity._

_Within another five minutes, she had been swarmed by a whole pack of the beasts. Standing much taller than herself, they were hulking masses of muscle hidden beneath oil coloured fur. They had at least three rows of sharp teeth that seemed intent on trying to sink their way into her skin, or at least rip through her layers of protective clothing. A few times she had been able to blind a few with a simple Force flash into their minds, but it had not slowed down their assault at all. She was silently cursing herself for not thinking about any indigneous life that may have lived on the uninhabited planet, in spite of what her holonet records had shown._

_Planting one foot solidly in front of the other for even balance, she crossed her blades across one another and sent them thundering together towards a Gorgodon as it rampaged towards her. The force of the blow sent the creature staggering, and with a quick downwards movement, she pulled the blades apart, catching two low blows on another couple of creatures that pounced at her from her left and right. The beasts let out a howl of pain as the blazing amber shafts of light burned through their fur. She caught the whiff of tinged ozone and scorched flesh clinging to the frozen air in the small cavern. _

_It was beginning to startle her how so many huge creatures had been able to scramble their way into the room through the narrow gap without her noticing._

_In the time that it had taken the thought to pass through her mind, the Gorgodons had developed a new technique. They raised two sets of heavy weighted arms to either side of her and hammered them down towards each one of her blades. Mirdala let out a startled yelp and crouched, raising the lightsabers high above her head to catch the extreme pressure of the attack. The result was similar to having a batha dropped on top of her from a great height. _

_Her foot gave way beneath her, causing another sharp cry of pain to escape from her mouth. Half sitting and with her other knee still raised, she could not hold up her defence as the Gorgodons pushed their full weight down against her. Desperation started to kick in as she plunged deeply into the Force to support her weakening blockade. She wanted to let out a sharp Force shove to send them back. But removing her concentration, for even a nanosecond, away from her Force shield would spell the end of her life. She was certain of it. _

_Ice skidded under her boots as she fought for grip, being pressured further and further back towards the edge of the platform. Her heart and mind screamed for Dinek, who was always there to support her. But, he was not here this time, not even in the same region of space._

_The space behind her ran out. She tumbled, falling over the back of the platform. There was a sharp scream as a single hand caught the edge, the other clinging desperately to one lightsaber as her second blade disappeared into the dark._

_"Mirdala!" _

_The platform swayed as more weight bounded onto the ice dusted rock beneath them. Purple and amber light bathed the walls for a moment before the black rock swallowed them up again. Clashes of electricity striking and hacking through bone filled her ears as the chaos broke out. Gorgodons fell flailing around her as she let out another futile sound; half scream, half growl while her hand struggled to maintain its hold. _

_At the last possible second, a Force grip grabbed her and hauled her roughly back onto safe ground. _

_She landed on her hands and knees, adrenaline and fear causing her whole body to tremble. When she tilted her head back, she almost expected to see Dinek with his back turned to her, single blue blade held out at his side as another swarm of the beasts came hurtling towards her. Protecting her; saving her from the dark._

_No such luck. Her father grabbed her wrists and pulled her against him, his arm slipping around her shoulders protectively. Her face burrowed into the side of his neck, dry sobs choking her as she clang onto him. His lightsabers had returned to his belt, but a Verpine shatter pistol was in his free hand and trained towards the narrow gap into the cavern. A bald man stood before them, his purple, twin bladed, saberstaff held in front of him as he gently swayed from foot to foot in a Soresu battlestance._

_Jedi Master Senu Meji slowly stood up straight. Mirdala could almost sense his brown eyes darting across the passageway ahead of him. His shoulders would not relax. His fingers drummed cautiously against the hilt of his lightsaber, still ignited. He half turned towards them as a grin spread across his face, about to make some sort of quip -_

_A dart struck the face of a Gorgodon past the Jedi Master's shoulder, knocking it backwards with a sharp hiss deep within its throat. Laothin's pistol kicked up steam into the frozen air as he shoved his daughter behind him, settling his hands into a two handed grip on the weapon. _

_Mirdala's remaining blade blossomed into the air as the creatures descended upon them once more._

Slowly, Mirdala opened her eyes. The light around her crept back into her vision. Sound started to dial itself back up to full volume in her ears, the smell of alcohol, bodies and other, more exotic aromas worked their way into her senses. Her fingers had knotted themselves deeply into her hair and her torso lay slumped across a tabletop.

She pushed herself up slightly, the room still spinning as her head felt like it had been impacted by a mag-lift train. A queasy feeling quickly scurried up her throat, causing her to gag and collapse back down on the wooden surface of the table.

What the blazes had happened to her? Her mind was unable to form coherent thoughts, except remembering sparse details of what had occurred before. She had come into a tavern in Coronet, Corellia, just passing by on her way back to her home on Talus after visiting a relative. She had walked in, observing a few of the patrons inside before making her way to the bar. After flagging down the bar tender, she had ordered a -

Her gaze swept forwards, however it was unable to focus steadily on the jawa juice sat before her. Could someone have slipped something into the drink without her noticing?

A string of curses escaped her as she found herself moving, not by mental thought process, but instinct, as she staggered towards the bar. Her hand stretched through a gap between some patrons, aiming for a row of what she hoped to be clean glasses stacked near a bottle of her favourite whiskey. A quick Force tap on the shoulders of the two men was enough to distract them as she called a glass to her hand, then pushed herself away from the bar and stumbled into the 'freshers near the back of the cantina.

Voices invaded her mind as soon as she stepped through the door, pitching her towards the basins near the back of the small fresher room. Her shoulder connected with the wall, but the full frontal barrage of indistinguishable words numbed the feeling of the pain.

This had never happened to her before, not like this. Visions from the Force came to her at scarce and inopportune moments, for this was not her primary skill. But, they never left this kind of aftereffect on her. Was this a vision of some kind, or perhaps something more sinister? She could not fathom why someone may have slipped narcotics into her drink.

Young, unaccompanied female who is now defenceless. Plot the course, Kendari.

She staggered forwards and shoved the glass in her hand under the nearest tap she could find. The glass was barely half full before she raised it to her lips and guzzled the water down as fast as she could. She continued the method while supporting herself against the wall with her free hand, feeling her throat gagging as she swallowed too fast for her throat muscles to keep up. She had to flush it out, whatever it could be.

In spite of her efforts, her head refused to clear. A spike of sharp pain stabbed through her thoughts and dislodged the glass from her hands, sending her sliding down the wall. Shadows nibbled at the corner of her vision as she tried to stand, but her knees failed to support her weight and felt dead and lifeless beneath her. She could not afford to pass out, could not afford to let the darkness take her. Anything could happen while she was unconscious.

Fortunately, her arms had not yet given out on her. She dragged her numbed lower half into a fresher cubicle and leaned back against the door to close it behind her. Twilight had settled as she lowered her head, her hands fumbling weakly for her com-link. It seemed like years had passed until her fingers enclosed around the small, cylindrical object. Without even removing it from her utility belt, she tapped the screen and selected the first saved frequency she could find.

"Help..."

The walls melded into a starless starscape around her as her eyesight failed, pitching her into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2: Aliit

Chapter 2:

Aliit

_A delicate smell of exotic aromas wafted gently down the corridor as Mirdala headed towards the end of the long passageway. The walls were bare with no indication as to who might own the building that she found herself in, but something deep within her stomach told her to feel comfortable here. There was something that she was familiar with, something so reassuring that her fears of her unknown location ceased to trouble her. It was like coming home to family, the security one could feel in the company of loved ones that could not be found elsewhere. Aliit, as the Mandalorians referred to it, was truly where the home was._

_Harsh light exploded from the doorway as it glided open for her, forcing her to shield her eyes and blink rapidly. She tried to scrub the excess illumination out of her vision, for what she saw ahead could not be real. It had to be a trick of the light. In the whole twenty years that she had been alive, not once could she recall the scene before her ever occurring. How could it be possible that for once; for once out of their busy, individual lives they all had a spare moment to gather like this?_

_Light adjusted after her endless attempts to blink away patches of suspicious colour that blocked what she could see. The door had opened her up to an apartment living room, furnished with a selection of comfortable looking couches all arranged around a circular, ornate, glass table. In its centre was a small water feature under a suspended bronze globe, which she presumed supported itself in the air with small, repulsor-lift generators hidden somewhere in its base. She could hear the faint trickling of the water as it flowed down into a basin that caught the droplets, before they disappeared into a cloud of vapour. _

_Seated across the sofas was a rag-tag bunch of humanoid civilians, talking among themselves. A zabrak with a shock of dark green hair between ebony horns, was in deep conversation with a burly, barbarian looking young man in mis-matching black and silver armour. She could not pick up the topic of their words, but their laughter indicated that it might not be something she wanted to delve further into. _

_To her left sat a man in full, black, Mandalorian armour, his helmet with its ruby, t-shaped visor resting on the arm of the chair beside him. His right arm was draped across the back of the sofa behind a blonde, middle aged woman dressed in a black flightsuit. Their speech was quiet, personal and intimate. A smile passed across her face when the aged man whispered something in the ear of the woman next to him, causing her to roll her eyes and slap him lightly on the chest plate._

_Her family - the aliit, the clan - were all together in the same room._

_It felt like she had been standing there for a lifetime before the Mandalorian looked up in surprise, but quickly his expression melted into an affectionate smile._

_"Mird'ika, gar droten! Gar bal'vodu ru'gotal shuner, mhi ru'hiili uj'alayi ret'lini._" Mirdala, you're late! Your uncle made dinner, so we brought ujj cake just in case.

_Mirdala's gaze drifted towards her father as he addressed her, still a little bewildered. The bright smile on his face refused to falter as he looked at her expectantly, awaiting her reply. Her mother peeked out from under the crook of his arm, seemingly as well spirited as he was. After everything they had been through: family losses, life style changes and constant heartbreak; this was the first time she could recall genuine happiness radiating from her parents._

"I...I was..." The words clogged up in her throat. She knew she had a reason for not arriving to the gathering on time, but as to why, she could not recall.

_"She's been at the whiskey again, Buir!" The tall, muscular, Zabrak in vibrant red armour grinned at her boisterously. "Bad Mirdie! Why wasn't I invited?"_

_Before she had a chance to offer a rebuke, a heavy arm dropped across her shoulders. She turned her head to see who had come up behind her and felt another smile cross her face. The man had his brown eyes narrowed playfully towards the Zabrak as his grip over her became tighter, a half hug that caused her to stumble slightly and bump into his chest plate. His shoulder length, dark blonde hair tickled her nose as she looked up at him and started laughing when he flashed her a reassuring wink._

_"She was totally waiting for my company," Zhed Kendari declared, plucking her arm up from around his waist and holding their hands high in the air in a triumphant wave. "Nothing can be more fun than seeing her favourite brother."_

_"HEY!" Nicken Kendari pouted at them both, the dark red, tribal tattoos on his face contorting with the expression. "I can be fun too! Just ask that girl I was with last ni -"_

_An awkward silence hung in the air when he finished speaking abruptly, all eyes in the room now focusing their attention onto him. Nicken's dark skinned face flushed ever so slightly before he shrugged and folded his arms across his chest, leaning back into his chair casually. _

_"Didn't hear her complainin'."_

_Precious seconds of uncomfortable quiet passed between the gathering before her mother untangled herself from the embrace of her father and hugged their daughter close._

_"They've been like this all day," Lena Arano whispered lightly in her ear, not so quiet that she could go unheard, but enough so that the conversation was not entirely their own. She presumed that it was deliberate. "It's slowly killing me. It's nice to have some sensible conversation for once! I'm sure most of the women discussed so far have been fictional."_

_Mirdala pulled back and grinned a smile very similar to her father's in perfect synchronisation with him, sharing their amusement to her mother from all angles. Nicken's gasp and saddened whine followed a moment later, but he was soon comforted by Zhed with a tackle-hug as the two young men started roaring incomprehensible noises at one another._

_"Dinner is served!" A heavily Corellian accented voice called from an open door, which welcomed the beings in the living room with the sweet and exotic aromas of Corellian spices. "You can leave the Ujj out there, Kid. Only real food is allowed in my dining room."_

_Mirdala allowed herself to be tugged towards the scent by her mother. Everyone was clearly ravenous, but she could feel no similar pangs of hunger in her stomach._

"Her heart rate is still normal, Buir. She hasn't woken up, but muttered your name a couple of times."

"Keep an eye on her, Zhed'ika. Call me the minute she wakes up."

_She watched, with eyes as wide as dish plates, as her famished family tucked in eagerly to the steaming pot of Corellian, spice-infused stew in the middle of the large dining table. Her own plate remained untouched. Her mind was telling her that she had come here with the intention of having a meal with her family, but her stomach ruled that she was not hungry. Had she eaten too much throughout the day, before turning up? Her brain could not puzzle the conflicting sense and situation together as she sat and watched everyone else. They had not paid attention to her lack of eating, so she presumed that it was fine for her to simply observe as they all indulged themselves. _

_It was strange, though, that her father seemed keen to enjoy her Corellian uncle's cooking, after specifically remembering to bring Ujj cake if he was the one serving the food this evening._

_"I'm really glad to see you all," Mirdala voiced aloud, a little taken aback when not one of her relatives turned to look at her as she spoke. "Can you believe it's taken us this long to get together, as a family?"_

_No one paid any attention to her. Not Zhed, not Nicken, not her mother or even her uncle Kai, who had not greeted her as she had entered the room. At least, she believed that he had not. She could not remember anything past being sat down at the table. _

_Maybe she had been at the whiskey for most of the day._

_"Guys, are you listening?" She propped her elbows up on the table, resting her chin between her hands while being careful not to knock the antique looking plate and cutlery before her. "It's taken so long for us to all be here - together. Aliit - reunited..."_

_Everyone and everything seemed to slow down around her. With robotic like gestures, her family slowly lowered the objects they had been holding and placed them onto the table. There was a long drawn out moment where no one moved an inch: not a twitch or rising and falling of chests as they breathed._

_"What's...what's going on?" she asked, a cold nerve clawing its way up her spine._

_All heads around the table shot upright as if the bodies they belonged to had been jolted by a sudden electrical current. Slowly, and with impending intent, their bodies swivelled around to face her. Expressionless, motionless; save for a look that passed through their eyes. A shard of savagery, a dagger of devastation and a knife of kindred vengeance glowed before passing out of their stares as quickly as it had appeared._

_Mirdala rose to her feet as calmly and carefully as she could, holding her hands defensively above her head. "I...I don't know what's going on...but -"_

_Things happened in a blur. At one moment, she was taking timid steps backwards towards the entrance to the dining room. In the next, her father's lightsaber speared towards her. The blade pierced her stomach too quickly for her to react. She was knocked hard, back into the wall behind her as the amber shaft pinned her in place. Agony ravaged throughout all of her body, threatening to overload her pain sensors and drop her into the welcome embrace of unconsciousness. The dark never came, instead she was forced to watch as everything in her world shattered._

_Zhed had produced his electric blue saberstaff and was raining angry blows against Nicken's defences; who retaliated with a strong offence from the long vibro-staff that he had slung across his back. The Zabrak vaulted high, somersaulting to land on top of the dining table. In a droid like manner he ignored the pain as Zhed's lightsaber cut a deep furrow into his leg and seemed to maintain perfect balance as he spun. He swung the staff across from his shoulder in a two-handed slash towards his adoptive brother's head. There was a sickening crack as the heavy weighted end of the weapon impacted with Zhed's skull and he tumbled to the floor; lifeless._

_The next to fall were her uncle and Nicken. Her uncle quickly removed Nicken's need for a head as he jumped down from the table to advance on the Corellian Jedi, his sapphire blue lightsaber blade swiping easily through the unarmoured section of the Zabrak's neck. His head rolled to land in a corner of the room, his body remaining statuesque for a moment before it flopped lazily onto the floor. Her father then wasted no time in ending her uncle's life, sending a tremendous Force shove out to the dining table towards his direction. The weight of the wood crushed Kai's chest and choked the life and breath out of him. His gags could be heard above the hum of the remaining lightsaber blades; amber and emerald light bathing the walls._

_Mirdala wanted to scream out, but her throat had closed up. She wriggled. She struggled. She lashed. Nothing could remove the lightsaber from her stomach. Her desperate writhing started to slow as her life energy slowly ebbed out of her body._

_She watched in horror as her mother and father started to circle one another, exchanging the occasional blow as if testing the defences of the other. After moments of pacing, her father finally lunged._

_A scream made its way past Mirdala's lips at last._

_Her mother crumpled to the floor, though her father's blades had not made any contact with her form. He paused and shook his head, as if awoken from something and stared down at his wifes body._

"Len'ika!"

_Mirdala's breath became more coarse and difficult as Laothin looked from her to his wife. She saw him rush towards her, but by then it was too late. Her life let go of existence and she became one with the Force._

Reality, or what she hoped to be reality, snapped Mirdala's eyes open. She sat up with a sharp start, the room spinning around her as she turned her head in every direction she could find. This was not her uncle's apartment on Corellia. The overhead lighting was dim to the point where it was nearly turned off. Neon pink and purple strips bordering the walls just below the level of the ceiling gave the room an underground feeling. Whatever she was lying upon now was plush, exquisite and expensive compared to the couches she had observed only moments ago.

Had that been her life really ending, and she was now experiencing a realm beyond the living?

A figure darted over and knelt before her, well manicured hands with electric blue painted nails grasping her own reassuringly. The woman's pale red tinted skin appeared even darker in the lack of light, but her black and ruby streaked hair made her appearance instantly recognisable.

"Hush, Mirdala." Durana Kendari leaned forwards and pressed her lips to her forehead, giving her a parental kiss that she obviously hoped would calm her. "You're safe now."

Mirdala could not form a reply. Her heart and mind were still racing in tandem circles as she tried to piece together all that had happened. The mysterious vision. The after effects. The second, more nerve-shaking vision. Waking up with her aunt watching over her. It was clear that she had been out for a long while, but beginning to even estimate at the time span made her headache worse.

As to why this had all happened, she was not aware whether she had been the near victim of a date rape situation, or if this was something a touch more dark from the Force. The visions had not been clear in their purpose or origin, what might have spawned them in her mind, but both left her with a futile feeling that she did not want to be left alone with her thoughts for the foreseeable future.

"Ran'ika, move," a voice demanded sternly from behind her aunt's shoulder. Although she could not tell where it was from, the audio quality sounded distant, leading her to believe it came from a holo-com generator.

Durana dipped her head briefly in exasperation, then daintily untwined her fingers from hers and moved to sit behind her, instead picking up a blanket and pulling it across both of their shoulders. Mirdala turned her head and smiled weakly but gratefully at her for a moment, then turned her attention to the hologram image before her. Her guess had been right.

_At least my brain is starting to function again_, she mused, but her confidence was short-lived when her a wave of unreleased pain rolled through her brain. She gritted her teeth and forced herself cope with it.

In the hologram stood two men, both who had been in her company only a short while before. But then, she seen them in a totally different light. Now, her brother was dressed in a simple, tan, nerf hide jacket with minimalist detailing down the sleeves and black work slacks. Her father, as usual, was in his midnight, Mandalorian armour but the helmet was not in sight this time.

"Mird, how are you feeling?" Zhed asked, his shoulders twitching ever so slightly beneath his jacket as his posture started to relax at the sight of her, now fully awake.

"Sore," she grunted, allowing her head to naturally fall to one side and rest itself on Durana's shoulder. "But at least I know this pain is real. I don't remember much about what happened."

Her brother nodded grimly, allowing himself to be guided aside with a thought, as their father stepped into the centre of the hologram to grasp her attention. "We can help you, Mird'ika. Sur'ar. Tell us what happened: everything."

"I don't know, Buir." Mirdala was grateful when she felt her aunt tug gently on the cloth around them, encouraging but supporting her. "I went to get a drink after visiting Uncle Kai and Kortos on Treasure Ship Row. It wasn't anything alcoholic...I think.

"I passed out...I guess. I don't know whether I experienced visions or dreams but they felt _very _real." She paused, remembering all the smells and sounds she had picked up while drifting in and out of consciousness. Some of the sounds she could recall had definitely not belonged in a cantina-type location. _Blades on bone, screams, the crack of Nicken's staff as it crunched into Zhed's skull..._

As soon as the sound started to echo in Mirdala's mind, she looked up and stared past her father towards Zhed. Their gazes locked, and her entire resolve left itself in a rush. She buried her face into her hands and burst into tears, letting her aunt tug her sharply against her side. She began to rock her back and forth gently, a soothing hand gently stroking her hair. She could feel Durana's shoulders shrug as some unseen communication passed between the other three people present, but nothing else existed in that moment for Mirdala except getting the fear out, the built up tension literally washing itself out of her system.

"Pull yourself together, woman. They're alive and they're fine. It was just a dream," she found herself muttering, barely a decibel above a whisper, the words passing from her lips known only to her.

But was it, really? Was her first family gathering approaching soon, bringing death and catastrophe with it?

Rubbing a hand across red rimmed eyes, she shook her head and sat up straight again to look back at the hologram. Zhed was looking remotely uncomfortable with his arms crossed precisely across his broad chest, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He could clearly sense that he had been the cause of her anguished outburst and it bothered him. She knew him well, he would wait and press her on the subject at a better time.

Her father remained expressionless, as impassive without his helmet as much as he was when wearing it. But she could tell, he had flinched as soon as she started crying. She was his Mird'ika, his youngest child and only daughter. He was ferociously protective of her in any circumstance, and seeing her so distressed was likely to shake him up a little. Her aunt would be faring much worse - she was a Zeltron and negative emotions could affect her mental reserves for days.

"S...sorry." Mirdala decided that getting straight back to the subject at hand would be better than answering questions on what had happened moments before. "The dreams - or visions - were things that have happened and one that hasn't. I don't know whether that makes it true...and...it felt real but...

"There were dream like elements. The first vision was from our trip to Ilum." She almost - almost - smiled inappropriately when an eyebrow quirked up on her father's forehead at the mention. "When we were attacked by Gorgodons. It started with us exploring the caves and then jumped straight to the attack. Sort of like...a holodrama. All the irrelevant bits were cut out. That was the same with the second vision...but..."

"Mird'ika." Her father's voice was so soft and gentle that it took Mirdala by surprise when he spoke. Her attention was his and his alone. "Tell us, then we can kick the shebs of those responsible."

Her smile brightened slightly in time with his, but they had not established whether _someone_ or _something_ was responsible for her experience. "We were at Uncle Kai's apartment in Coronet. You, me, Mum, Nick and Zhed." Her brother's head came up at the mention of his name. "Uncle Kai had served dinner. For some reason, you were keen to eat it even though you told me before we sat down that you'd brought Ujj cake with you in case he was cooking." This brought snorts of laughter from the two men in the hologram.

"We sat down to eat, but I wasn't hungry. Nor, could I remember anything before entering the room. Nothing. Everything I had done that day, or planned to do after the meal vanished. So, you all started eating while I watched. I brought up the fact that we had never met together as a family before -" The words clogged up in her throat. It took several mental restarts to get her mouth working again. "Then everything went berserk. You all seemed like you were in some kind of...trance." She jabbed a finger at her father's form in the hologram with wide eyes. You threw your lightsaber at me and pinned it through me into a wall."

Her father remained deathly still as she continued on, describing in as much detail as she could muster about Zhed dying, then Nicken, then Kai. She tried to calm herself, taking in deep breaths, but her heart threatened to escape from her chest with each thump as her panic grew.

"You attacked Mum! You didn't strike her, but she...she just fell. To the floor. I knew she was dead. As soon as she fell it was like you woke up. You called her name, but somehow knew she wasn't with us anymore. You then looked at me and saw I was alive, so rushed to help me. But it was too late and I died. I just let-"

"K'uur!" Laothin hissed, and she instantly fell silent. She could see him reprimand himself mentally for being harsh, but his expression did not soften. She figured that he had ruled out this experience as coincidental dreams now. "Get some rest, Mird'ika. We'll be in contact again within a couple of days after we've done some investigation."

Mirdala nodded, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging her arms around them. Her aunt rose and carefully draped the blanket around her so that no inch of her body remained exposed to the world, then went to shut off the holocom.

"Look after my daughter, Durana." Her father's threat was intended to go unheard, she believed, but the anger highlighting his words kept their intonation gruff and loud. "No sheltering in other beings' beds for a while. She's your top priority until I get in contact again."

"I know that, Laothin." Durana planted her hands on her hips and gave him a knowing look. "Family first. You can trust me."

His image winked out without a final word, pitching the room into even deeper darkness.

How much of their family would remain by the time they next spoke?


End file.
